Love Never was More
by FoundNLost
Summary: Love is greater as a whole than the sum of all its parts. Another tale of how Phantom of the Opera should have ended. In which all three find a happily ever after. E x C x R Rated M just in case, I expect it to be quite fluffy.
1. Chapter 1

**Take the boats and swear to me never to tell, of what you know of the angel in hell! **

Christine freed Raoul, and hand in hand they ran for the boats. Raoul began to untie one and she hesitated. She was fiddling with the wedding ring he had given her to seal their engagement. _Engagement! Ha! No wonder she felt the need to hide their attachment to one another. Christine would have a reputation for having slept her way to talent either way… and neither of us were very good about accepting the idea of another suitor. _ He paused for a moment considering. He was aware of the sounds of the mob growing closer, and of Christine fretting with her ring, but he couldn't help but feel they'd left things unfinished. _The look on this Phantom's face when she kissed him was full of love, of passion, _of despair. The same feelings that I experienced when she kissed me… Her heart was in it, but not_ wholly. Now we both know why, she had given both of us half her heart, both equal, both lacking, and she left nothing for herself. _

"Raoul, before we leave I-"

"I'll do it." He cut her off, understanding why she was asking, knowing what he had to do for true love. _Never _let it be said that he didn't understand that love was about sacrifice. If _he _could let her go, and Christine could love two spoiled men, than surely Raoul could bring some measure of hope to all three of them. He gently took the ring from her and started back the way they came. Christine's voice stopped him. "You won't hurt him?" Raoul turned a thoughtful gaze to her. "I think we have all suffered enough."

He found a darkened room and would have passed it by for the next if it hadn't been for the softly sung tune. It sounded almost like a lullaby, but the half choked words of "Christine I love you" Told Raoul it was a dirge; for the phantom or his love he didn't know, but moved quickly to end it. He entered the room, the little light from outside only illuminated the man, and held out the engagement ring. Too heart sick to look angry at the invasion by his rival, the man hesitantly took the ring and held it. Not sure what to say, or how even to express the turmoil of strong emotions that had kept him going through the night, Raoul leaned forward slowly. With careful deliberation he placed his lips gently, innocently, on the phantom's lips.

It was nothing, he knew, compared to the deep kiss he had shared with Christine. But that kiss had both been acknowledging of passion and a life line of love when all seemed lost. His was a peace offering, and a sharing of hope. The man before him was stunned. Despite his facial deformity, two people had been willing to touch him in an intimate manner. Raoul rather expected it, if not this reaction than something similar, and taking advantage of the dangerous man's shock, he grabbed a hand and gently pulled him into a standing position. "Come with us."

Abruptly the man seemed to come to his senses. His face hardened, perhaps with murderous rage, but Raoul was beginning to believe it was shattered pride. "She made her choice," he said removing his hand. "I shall respect her wishes." The crowed was growing ever closer, they had no time. "Yes she did choose," Throwing a worried glance out the door he continued "_Both _of us. Now come away Monsieur Phantom, her heart would be half empty without you." The man, Erik, looked at him closely, his face was a study of horror this close, but its fearful quality had no more power over Raoul. It would be more disturbing if it weren't for the fact that if they lingered here much longer, they would both actually _be_ corpses, never mind looking like one. "And you? Is this a grand gesture for her or simply out of pity?"

Agitated and impatient Raoul snapped, forgetting for a moment that this was the same man who had been trying to strangle him barely minutes before. "Out of admiration, you fool! You are the better man, letting go of her while I never could. You shall be good for the both of us I should think." The mob's noise almost drowned out his next words. "Shall you take us? For good or ill we will be less without you!" Erick looked down at the ring he still held and somehow made it vanish. Taking this as acceptance, Raoul grabbed his hand again and led him into a headlong flight back to where Christine and the boat waited.


	2. Chapter 2

Of course they had a huge wedding, as befit the de Chagny line. All of _his _family was there, and a few select friends from the opera house. Of course the phantom couldn't be seen, or suspected of being alive, let alone present near the happy couple. Not that he minded _that. _He preferred to watch from the shadows. No… What bothered Erik wasn't that he wasn't a part of the wedding. It was watching _her _marry _him_. It was heartbreaking all over again. They looked so happy, so innocent, that it was a reminder. There was no room for a fallen angel in heaven.

He walked out of the church and took the carriage that waited for him back to the mansion. The servants knew about him, and had orders to let him do and go as he pleased. They had orders not to mention him outside of the mansion, but amongst themselves the rumors flew as they tried to discover why he was there. Erik wondered that as well. What was his purpose here? He played a few notes on the grand piano in the music room, where he spent most of his time. True, he had no place to return to, his layer beneath the opera now discovered and laid bare. But such set backs were not unknown to him, in fact he usually just drifted into a different place.

_A new place, a new project, a fresh start…_ He mused to himself, the tuneless playing slowly sounding more cheerful. Then he struck a sour note. He had no _desire _to roam. He had been planning to live out his miserable existence in the dark. _Why? _He thought hitting the keys harder, making darker sounds. _Why did they give me this false sense of hope? I am not a child to play pretend at the things I cannot have. _A pause in the music gave way to a sigh, and the playing resumed hesitantly, distractedly. _Of course, I suppose that is exactly what I did with these two…with the entire opera I suppose. _He stopped playing; just letting his hands rest as he stared into the wall opposite of him. _What does one do when suddenly offered a third choice? I feel too old for a child's belief in happily ever after, and yet here I am. _

The sound of the main door opening stirred him from his morose thoughts. He started playing in the middle of a song, grimacing slightly when he realized it was a selection out of _The Marriage of Figaro_. Part of him wondered why they had returned so soon, the rest was hoping they forgot to greet him in their haste to make the marriage official. He ended the song and moved into another, one that sounded like a call to war. _ They pretend we are all a happy family, but their love excludes the_ poor creature_ they rescued from isolation. _ He thought bitterly, working himself up into a slow rage.

The door of the music room clicked open and he stopped playing rather abruptly. He put a pleasant expression on his face; after all he was a professional at lies and illusions. Christine entered first, a smile bright on her face. She looked lovelier than he had imagined in her white dress, and she looked so innocently happily to see his _face_ when before that very sight had filled her with terror. Part of the former phantom treasured that change but the rest was still resentful of her happiness. Raoul entering, looking just has happy didn't help the turmoil raging inside the disfigured man.

He wanted to hate this man who had taken everything he had ever wanted away. But the man looked just as happy to see him out of that 'depressing' mask that it was hard for Erik to muster up the proper anger. In fact he felt rather tired of it all. Again he revisited the thought of leaving the two of them to their happiness. Their first words of greeting had been lost in the pendulum of emotions that flowed through him at the sight of them, but he was shocked by what they said next.

"It's time." Christine said, her eyes shining brightly. Raoul stepped forward and clasped a hand to his left shoulder, encouraging him from his seat. "Come Erik, can't go to your wedding looking like that. Let's get you attired properly." _What did they mean? Wedding? _"What is wrong with the way I dress?" He asked stalling for time as he tried to process their words. "Not all of us are clothes horses, _Raoul_." He stressed the familiarity of using his first name, something neither had used before.

Looking a bit offended, the noble shrugged. "Well if you want to go dressed for a funeral, I suppose it is your wedding." Christine grabbed his right hand, also pulling him away with her new husband. "Oh do go change Erik, it _is _a special occasion after all." He could never deny her anything, and followed Raoul to find an appropriate suit for a wedding. He dreaded to think who they had decided he needed to marry. It was a sweet kind of cruelty that they had found someone so he could be as happy as they… but no doubt this would also spell tragedy.

Dressing, he decided against the mask. He'd be the villain one last time. Play out the ceremony with the priest shaking in fear at his face and the woman who would no doubt scream as soon as the veil was lifted. Then he'd depart this purgatory that he had temporarily found solace in, return to hell, and leave heaven to the only two people who had dared to show him love.


End file.
